Himari's Request
by Falneou17
Summary: It took Himari a lot of time and effort, but she finally did it! A lifelong dream of hers has finally been realized! With the help of an unlikely friend, will it become a great success or spiral down and out of control? Happy birthday, Himari!


**This was originally not planned to be posted here, but I changed my mind. This is, after all, the best place to be posting it. There will be, however, some minor alterations compared to the original one.**

 **As some of you may know, I write fanfics, including a handful for BanG Dream! But as a means to try and get this more well known and out there, a certain someone who wishes to remain anonymous suggested this. Also, before I forget: happy birthday, Hii-chan~! So as a birthday present for everybody's favorite bassist (Lisa! No! I didn't mean to hurt you! Lisa! Lisa come back! LIIIIISAAAAAAA!), have this chapter everybody~**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own BanG Dream!**

* * *

It was a nice late-afternoon when the five members of Afterglow met up at their usual meeting spot: the Hazawa Café. Everybody had already made their orders and all but one were now just waiting patiently for their food to arrive.

Then, someone did something that made the air around them feel ten times heavier. Nobody was more affected by this than—

"Well, why won't you, Ran?" Himari asked her friend, visibly leaning more and more forward to try and get closer to Ran. Moca and Tomoe could only watch the interactions, both wanting to stop it but not knowing how. Or, rather, not knowing how to do so without redirecting Himari to themselves.

And Tsugumi?

The last and youngest member of the band had already dug into her cakes, blissfully unaware of what was going on right in front of her.

"I just don't, is that too much to ask?" Ran replied matter-of-factly, keeping her answer short and trying to avoid direct eye contact with Himari. Unfortunately for her, this either meant looking at the couple at the next table giving "lovey-dovey" a whole new meaning, or at the wall. Ran sighed, resigning herself to her fate of looking at the wall.

"Tsugumi," Ran began, breaking the brunette from her cake-eating paradise and focus her attention on Ran, "Did your family redecorate this place? These wallpapers look new."

"Now that you mention it..." Tomoe trailed off as she looked around, wondering why she never noticed. Moca and even Himari followed her lead, though they both knew why. While the wallpapers were new and different, they were similar enough to be able to be mistaken for the old set by those not paying close attention to it.

Tsugumi nodded, still trying to swallow that last mouthful of the café's newest cake with a lot of difficulties before answering, "We did. Some of the paint was starting to break off and dad had been planning to completely change the look of the café anyway. This was a good excuse for him to do so so we decided to go for it."

"Tsugu~ Tell your dad that we like it, okay~?" Moca asked the girl who had gone back to her food. Nodding in confirmation that she heard Moca, Tsugumi went back to eating.

"Wait a minute... I was trying to convince Ran!" Himari exclaimed, obviously having forgotten the discussion before Ran herself diverted her attention. Turning back to the vocalist, Himari tried again, "Ran! Why won't you do it?"

* * *

Ran was silent, her eyes focusing on everything but the bassist while she was contemplating something. Then, looking over the shoulder of Himari, Ran saw something that caused her eyes to widen slightly; something that did not go unnoticed by Moca. Ran stood up rather suddenly and left after muttering a quick "Sorry, I have to go now."

"Bye~ Ran~"

Before anyone else could say or do anything, Ran had already left the Hazawa Café. As Himari slumped down, knowing that she couldn't get her answer, a heavy silence fell on their little table.

Of course, the waitress chose that exact moment to come by and bring their orders.

"Wait, Ran left, so... what should we do with hers?" Tomoe asked as soon as the waitress was done, eyeing Ran's order that was placed by the now empty chair.

"I'll go and give it to her then~" Moca said as she, too, stood up. Taking the orders of both Ran and her own, she was about to leave for the cashier when she turned to Himari, "Five pieces of bread from Yamabuki and I'll try and convince Ran."

"FIVE?!" Himari exclaimed in shock as she eyed Moca. The look on Moca's face told her all that she needed to know and, with a defeated sigh, she relented, "Fine... just LINE me the ones that you want and I'll get them for you tomorrow. They're probably almost out of them now anyway."

"O~kay~" Moca replied in a sing-song voice before adding, "Then... Moca-chan is off to convince Ran~"

And with that, Moca left the group of friends, too.

"That Moca..." Tomoe chuckled as she took a sip of her coffee, "She doesn't ever change, does she?"

"No, she doesn't..." Himari sighed in defeat, though she tried to remain cheerful as she soon added, "But that makes us Afterglow, right?"

"Yeah!"

"And now, Tomoe..." Himari turned to Tomoe with a fierce look in her eyes. Tomoe, knowing full well what this meant, tried to move as far back as possible. Unfortunately for her, her back hit the wall behind her not long after. She was trapped.

"Tsugu! Help!" Tomoe cried out, but she soon found out that Tsugumi was, once again, distracted; this time with talking about the new samurai movie with the waitress that started airing not too long ago.

Tomoe was about to suffer the same fate as Ran. The only difference between the two of them is that nobody would come to Tomoe's rescue to spare her from Himari's wrath.

* * *

Moca, now with two plastic bags in hand, was walking down the streets trying to figure out where Ran had gone off to. She had checked all the places that Ran often visited, even those that the other girls of Afterglow did not know of, and she was about to give up when she saw something.

Ran coming out of the music store. And the two of them instantly locked eyes for an extended period of time.

"Moca..."

"Ran, do you have a moment?" Moca asked in as serious of a tone as possible before turning around and walking ahead. She knew that Ran was not too far behind by the sound of footsteps, though Moca still looked over her shoulder every other minute or so to make sure that Ran was still there with her.

Ran was wondering where she was being led to, but she didn't question Moca's intentions whatsoever. Funnily enough, she trusted Moca, much more so than any other member of Afterglow.

And Moca was well aware of this fact.

Moca eventually led them to a place that was surprisingly familiar to Ran. It was a small park a bit off the beaten path, and Ran remembered it vividly.

"Moca, isn't this...?" Ran asked her friend, though she didn't need the confirmation. She already knew.

This was the place where she and Moca became friends.

"Why doesn't Ran want to do it?" Moca asked, not beating around the bush for once which shocked Ran. Ran didn't have a lot of time to recover, however, as Moca quickly added with a smile, "Ran would look great in it~"

"It's-It's not about that," Ran admitted with a sigh. She couldn't say it in front of the others, but when it is just Moca... Ran took a deep breath, though her voice still came out a lot meeker than she had wanted it to, "It's that I can't do it..."

"Ran..."

"I know what you were doing, and I know what you want, but I can't..." Ran said as she plopped down on a nearby bench. Even though she was looking down, she could see that Moca came to sit by her side.

"It is difficult for Ran, I understand that," Moca began in a gentle voice, placing a hand on Ran's shoulder. After a short silence, Moca added, "But this isn't just for anything or anyone. This is for Hii-chan who asked all of us to do it, not just Ran. I'm sure that she is busy getting Tomo-chin convinced as we speak now."

"Poor Tomoe," Ran said with a smile, imagining what she must be going through with Himari right now as Moca let out a soft chuckle. Several minutes passed where neither said anything or moved a muscle when Ran finally let out the breath that she was holding, "...All right, I'll do it."

"You will?" Moca asked in shock, to which Ran nodded in confirmation. Moca had to restrain herself from doing a fist pump and instead added, "That's great~ we will all meet next week at eight then."

"All right..." Ran replied, telling Moca that she understood the plan. When Moca was about to stand up, Ran reached out to grab Moca's sleeve, "Since we're here already, we might as well stay for a bit longer."

"We might as well~ O~kay~" Moca smiled and sat down again, taking out the takeaways that she brought from the Hazawa Café earlier and, together with Ran, the two of them ending up staying there well after it got dark.

* * *

"Ah, Himari-san! Welcome!" the white-haired girl greeted the newcomer with a smile as bright as the sun that was just starting to rise, receiving one almost as bright in return.

"Ah, Eve-chan, it's good to see you!" Himari smiled as she returned the greeting, adjusting the strap of her bag on her shoulder before adding, "You wouldn't have happened to have seen Tsugu, have you?"

"Tsugumi-san is inside," Eve replied with a nod back to the door before resuming her cleaning of the tables outside.

Himari said her thanks to the white-haired girl but wasn't quite sure whether or not she was heard. Going inside, the bassist of Afterglow expected to see her friends waiting patiently for her, or maybe even just general banter.

She almost lost her balance from laughing when she took in the scene in front of her.

Moca was chasing a flustered Ran around the room, both girls managing to avoid crashing into the furniture somehow. While Moca was wearing her usual set of casual clothes, Ran was wearing a set of black-and-white clothes with a lot of frills that looked awfully familiar.

"Moca! I said 'no'!"

"Oh, come on, Ran~ just one~"

"NO!"

In the other, much calmer corner of the café were the other two members of Afterglow. Both were wearing similar sets of clothes as Ran was, but they were reacting to it in a whole different way.

Tomoe was sitting at an empty table, her head in the palms of her hands as she murmured a stream of muffled words. Tsugumi, on the other hand, was looking at herself in the mirror and adjusting her headpiece slightly.

It was only when Himari had to grab hold of the nearest chair when she nearly fell down from laughing that the other four girls noticed her presence.

"Himari-chan, are you okay?" Tsugumi asked, worriedly, as she hurried over to Himari's side. Tomoe was following soon after while Ran, still wary of Moca behind her, wasn't far behind, either.

"I'm all right I'm all right," Himari waved off her friends' concern as she got back on her feet. She took one moment to look at everybody before exclaiming, "You're all doing it?!"

"Yup!" Tsugumi smiled, being the first to respond before motioning at everybody, "We're all ready!"

"Why isn't Moca wearing... this?" Ran asked, pointing an accusing finger at Moca who, sure enough, was the only one who wasn't wearing the same set of clothes as everybody else. Everybody but Himari, of course, who hadn't had the time yet to change since arriving.

"Remember that cold that Moca-chan caught three weeks before Tomo-chin did~?" Moca asked nobody in particular, but she knew that they remembered. Without missing a beat, she continued, "Lisa-san covered for me missing my shift back then. She can't do her morning shift today so Lisa-san asked me to cover for her this time. It's only fair."

"I guess you're right..." Ran had to admit, defeated, but then added, "Just make sure you will join us too."

"Right right~ Moca-chan promises~" Moca sang before nodding in Himari's direction. Slinging a sudden arm around Ran's shoulder, Moca managed to pull Ran into a close huddle with the remaining members of Afterglow, "But first, a group photo~!"

"Mo-Moca!"

"Stop pushing!"

"Ow... Tomoe-chan, that was my foot..."

"Ah, sorry, Tsugu"

Himari smiled, seeing her friends all huddled together like that. With a grin, she jumped in the group huddle, too, before taking out her camera, "All right, everybody, on three! One, two, three!"

And that is how on that day for just one day, every visitor of the Hazawa Café was served by the members of Afterglow wearing frilly maid outfits. All thanks to Himari's request for it.

* * *

Later that day, when the Hazawa Café was cleaning up after the last couple of customers had left, Himari found herself sitting outside with a small towel on her left and a glass of ice chocolate on her right. She let out a content sigh after a day well spent.

"Thanks for your hard work, Himari-chan!"

"Yeah~ what Tsugu said~"

Himari looked up to see two familiar faces, Tsugumi and Moca, walk towards her with bright smiles on their faces. Both still wearing the same outfit that they had been all day, both visibly exhausted, and both extremely satisfied. For completely different reasons.

"Really, I appreciate that you wanted to help today of all days, I wouldn't know what would have happened if we didn't have everybody's help today..." Tsugumi trailed off, suddenly looking very guilty, "I'm sorry that it had to be today."

"Tsugu, don't be," Himari waved off her friend's worries with a smile, "We're friends and I'm glad I could help! Besides, I got to see Tomoe and Ran finally dress up for the occasion."

"About that... you may want to go back inside," Moca said before a familiar smirk graced her face. In one swift motion, and a lot more power than either of the other two girls would have expected, Moca had already pulled Himari on her feet and pulled her inside, "Come on, quick! Before they change again!"

"Moca, what are you–?!" Himari tried but was cut short when she was engulfed in the small paper strips and the glitter.

"Happy birthday, Himari!"

"What is... happening...?" Himari asked in shock, patting off the decorations that got in her hair and on her clothes as she looked around for answers.

"Tsugu said it already, but we all felt bad that we ended up spending Hii-chan's birthday helping out in the Hazawa Cafe," Moca tried to explain before realizing her mistake and quickly turning to Tsugumi and her parents, "No offense, by the way."

"None taken," Mr. Hazawa said with a smile in Moca's direction, his wife and daughter nodding simultaneously to show that they agreed.

"Which is why we thought that this is the least that we could do for you," Tomoe picked up where Moca left off, stepping aside to let Himari see what was happening.

Ran, still slightly flustered but nowhere near where she was before, was carrying a cake in front of her. The honey lemon cheesecake that Himari once tested and liked.

With Ran gently placing it on an empty table, Tsugumi pulling back a chair for Himari to sit down on, and Tomoe lightning the candles with the matches that Eve brought with her, they all knew what was going to happen next.

"Everyone... you really didn't have to," Himari muttered softly, trying to hold back her emotions but needing to rub her eyes regardless.

"We know we didn't," Tomoe began with a smile.

"We wanted to," Tsugumi continued as she stepped back to join the group standing in front of Himari, "Because we're friends, and this is the least that we can do for you."

"So make your wish, Himari-san!" Eve cheered, finishing what the rest had started.

Himari was still speechless, wondering when and how they all could have prepared for this. They must all have been busy with the café itself, after all.

'Oh, what does it matter?' Himari finally ended up thinking with a small smile, 'They did and that is what is important. Who needs time to think of a wish when mine is already so obvious?'

Opening her eyes again, Himari took her time to look at everybody in the room. Everybody who had been supporting her, cheering her up and on, and were always there for her. Whether they had been in her life for over a decade or only a couple of months didn't matter.

Himari blew, extinguishing all of the candles with ease in one single breath. There was a small applause coming from her friends, Eve quickly coming in to take out the candles and Tsugumi with several small plates, and Himari was smiling.

She was tired–exhausted, even, after a long day. But Himari knew that she wouldn't have wanted to spend this day any other way.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it, please do tell me what you think of it, and I wish you all a wonderful day!**


End file.
